Lightning-arrester.



W. E. BUTLER. LIGHTNING ARRESTER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1910.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

w g inventor Attorneys lowi 1 voltage d vision or rnensions, housing theelectrodes. The elec- \UILLIAM E. BUTLER, F DAVE CITY, NEBRASKA.

LIGHTNING-AREESTEB.

noo'mso.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov, 1%, 1911,

Application filed September 23, 191.0. Serial No. 583,485!

To all who u it may concern:

Be it known. that I, W'ILLIA'M E. BUTLER, aeitirzen of the UnitedStates, residing at David City, in. the county of Butler and State 0lebraslta, have invented a new and useful Lightning-Arrester, of whichthe folc. ecilication.

i ltion belongs to the art of arand'it more especially relates toirrester, adapted primarily for over which currents of high V charge,and the primary object of the invention is to produce a lightningarrefster involving durable means, which will permit lighting stroke toare across the 1 "es of the arrester, considerably the electrodes weresurrounded iosphere. y ention, in this regard, involves a ature, whichconsists in the pro a vacuum chamber of suitable difurther trodes are ofmercury and are unstable, or in other words, they mingle together whenthe high voltage is discharged, and just so he line is clear from thehigh. voltage, ti o electrodes will separate and settle baclrirespective cells upon each side of the r ground will be broken.

A further object of the invention is to malre vacuum chamber'of thearrester of such dimensions, as to permit the Inerour to va orizewithout causin an en lo- 5 P g l 'sion. It is to be remembered, however,thatafter the lightning stroke is oil the line the vapor from themercury is again absorbed by the mercury.

it is previously stated in'this specification, that this arrester ismore especially applicable to lines having a grounded line. It isevident, however, that this invention may 'be applied in conjunctionwith electrical installation, in which there is no grounded line. thereare two arresters with their downwardly extending connections (whichinthe first instance connect directly with the ground,) joined together,and with a conbetween their junction and the the drawings, howeventhereis on i Yrrn the invention disclosed, but in practical fields this formr ay require certaiii alterations, and provided the alterations arecomprehended by the appended claims,

the applicant is entitled to them.

'ion,a;tter which a line to the When the invention is so utilized,

v The invention comprlses't'urther features and combinations of parts,which will be hereinafter set forth, illustrated the drawings, andpointed out in 1 the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a' view, i section, of the lightningarrester, in Y c with the g: unded line, and show connection between. itand the grozn '22 an elevation of the lightning roster. Fig. 3 isdiagrammatic view of an electrical installation, illustrating thearrester in circuit therewith.

Referring to the drawings, 1 denotes an open-ended inetal shell, whichis formed with screw-threads 2. The upper portions of thesethreadsreceive a threaded annular flange 3 of the glass globe 4 (whichforms the vacuum chamber 5 of the arrester). The greater portions of thethreads 2 on gage the threads of the cylindrical insulat ing member 6.The upper surface ofthc member 6 is provided with a partition 111813'1her 7, which divides the lower portion e the vacuum chamber 5 into twocells and 9, in which mercury 10 is placed. will be noticed, however,that in the partition '2v at its upper than. the diameter of the ti.ided flange 3 of the globe. in of this arrester, the o a globe l maybeblown. about this part i n 7, so the efore it is not impracticable toprovide a j tition of the dimensions disclosed. Before the shell 1 isthreaded to the annular or the globe, the insulating member 5 arrangedin position in the shell.

11 represents a conductor block, which is threaded into the f isolatingmember 6. Connected to the block 11 at the point 32, and extendingtherefrom and through the memberfi, is a conductor rod 13, the upper end.of which is provided with. a contact plate 14;. This contact plate 14is arranged in the bottom of the cell 9, inorder to cooperate with themercury therein.

Located in the bottom of the cell 8 is a c muiar .e manuiacture 16downwardly extends. this conductor rod 16 connections are obtained hshell 1 and the mercury in the co! The conductor block ll has conductor17 extended between the at 18.

which the bottom the 2O denotes a conductor wire, which is connectedbetween the shell 1, and the grounded line of electrical installation 21(which is clearly shown in Fig. 3), in order that when a stroke oflightning strikes the line 21, the stroke is permitted to pass over theconductor wire 20 on to the shell 1, to the mercury in the shell 8, byway of the conductor 16. When the stroke of lightning reaches thispoint, the mercury electrodes in the cells 8 and 9 merge across thepartition. This is due to the -tact that the electrodes are arrangedthrough capillarity oval-shaped above the upper edge of the partition 7.W hen the two electrodes are brought together in this manner, thelightning stroke passes straight to the ground, by way of the conductorrod 13, the cenductor block 11 and the wire 17 When the conductor 20 ofthe grounded line of electrical installation is clear of the lightningstroke, the electrodes in the cells 8 and 9 again separate.

The conductor blockll is provided with depressions 22, to receive aspanner, by which the block is screwed home.

T he invention having been set forth, what is claimed as new and usefulis z 1,. In a lightning arr-ester, an inclosure; mercury in theinclosure; a shell connected with the inclcsure: an insulating memberwithin the shell. adapted to divide the mercury into spaced electrodes;means for connecting one electrode with the ground; and means forconnecting the other electrode with the shell.

2. In a lightning arrester, an 'inclosure; mercury within the inclosure;a shell adapted to engage the inclosure; an insulating member within theshell, adapted to separate the mercury into spaced electrodes; means forconnecting one electrode with the shell; a conducting element in theinsulating member and accessible for connection with a conductor, fromthe exterior of the arrester; and a connection between the otherelectrode and the conducting element.

3. In a lightning arrester adapted for use in connection with electricalinstallation, an

losure having a vacuum chamber and provided with cells, said inclosurehaving an annular flange, a threaded shell connected to the flange, andmercury electrodes arranged in the cells, insulating means carried bythe shell for separating the electrodes and insulating one from theother, thus providing the arcing poles, and a connection between thepoles, the electrical installation and the ground.

4. In a lightning arrester adapted for use in connection with electricalinstallation, an

inclosure having a vacuum chamber and provided with cells, saidinclosure having an annular flange, a threaded shell upon the flange,mercury electrodes in the cells, insulating means carried by the shellfor sepa rating the electrodes and insulating one from the other, thusproviding the arcing poles, a. conductor block threaded to theinsulating means, a connection between the block and one of the poles, aconnection between the other pole and the shell, and connections betweenthe conductor block and the ground, and a connection between the shelland the electrical installation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto atiixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. BUTLER.

Witnesses:

W. F. DELANEY, J. K. MASTER.

